Staring at People Might Make Them Seem More Attractive, Study Says

If you're not feeling it with a date initially, can that person grow on you? A new study suggests they might—if you're paying attention. The research, published in Psychological Science, indicates that how attractive we find someone is influence by how much attention we give to their faces. In order to determine the role of our attention in how we perceive others, Harvard researchers had men and women rank two faces that showed up side-by-side on a screen. Before the faces were actually shown, there was a black dot on one side of the screen or the other, between where the face's eyes would appear, to draw participants' eyes to one face. Sure enough, faces were perceived as more attractive when they were on the same side as the dot. Researchers say this suggests that simply paying more attention to someone's face can alter a person's attractiveness—at least, when it comes to initial impressions. They also point out that their findings go to show that basic attractive features (or a lack thereof) aren't everything when it comes to how physically attractive we think someone actually is. So, there you go—beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder

If you're not feeling it with a date initially, can that person grow on you? A new study suggests they might—if you're paying attention. The research, published in Psychological Science, indicates that how attractive we find someone is influence by how much attention we give to their faces.

In order to determine the role of our attention in how we perceive others, Harvard researchers had men and women rank two faces that showed up side-by-side on a screen. Before the faces were actually shown, there was a black dot on one side of the screen or the other, between where the face's eyes would appear, to draw participants' eyes to one face. Sure enough, faces were perceived as more attractive when they were on the same side as the dot.

Researchers say this suggests that simply paying more attention to someone's face can alter a person's attractiveness—at least, when it comes to initial impressions. They also point out that their findings go to show that basic attractive features (or a lack thereof) aren't everything when it comes to how physically attractive we think someone actually is.

So, there you go—beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder but also in where the beholder's eyes go.